The top 5 regrets when your accounting career is over. Hint: They aren’t what you think

Though it’s been around for a while, we frequently see on the social media the “The Top 5 Regrets Of The Dying”, and no, we aren’t talking this week about the death of compliance.

We’re talking this week about the ability to stop for a moment in our day, not put our heads down and start at our iPhones, and actually take quality time to think about life. And life in the longer term, like what will it be like as we come to the end of our accounting career.

Sometimes I wonder if iPhones and the Internet are like some horrible drug or alcohol addiction, which prevents people from reaching out to others around them in a face to face way.

I was reading recently another comment about how the iPhone is seldom used as an phone, and there’s been plenty of research about younger iPhone users hating people calling them. Emails and SMS are less intrusive and can be read when the recipient is ready.

It’s hard then to stop and force our brains to consider life after work, when we are too busy swiping left, right, up or down.

We look this week at the Longer term game plan.

As the top 5 regrets mentioned, there were 5 key regrets people have at the end of their life, and we guess this is at the end of any major milestone in their life.

They had the courage to live a life true, not the life others expected.

They hadn’t worked so hard.

They had the courage to express their feelings, and not repress feelings.

They had stayed in touch with friends.

They had let themselves be happier.

By far the most common regret seems to be how many dreams have gone unfulfilled, or how many dreams had been abandoned as people got older and less stronger. Health and fitness brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it. As someone famously once said: the person who is healthy wants many things, the person who is sick wants only one thing.

Working so hard seems to be a badge of honour for many. But the reality is at the end of working life, many have expressed regret at missing key milestones in their partner’s, children’s, parents, siblings, friends lives. Children grown up so quickly. One minute they are holding your hand, and the next they are grown up. Many accountants deeply regret spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

In line with overworking, relationships are compromised. Golden friendships slip by over the years, and people regret not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Whilst not all friendships survive time, they do need to be nurtured.

And lastly, happiness is a choice. Many accountants are stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

If you need help learning how to laugh again, then we may not be able to help, but if you need someone to help with freeing up time so you can explore your life again, then drop Odyssey a line and we’ll show you how Outsourcing your compliance work can assist.